OKAKI-sun Advice List

OKAKI-sun Japan 41 years in Japan

I am the president of the Japan Okaki & Senbei Sommelier Association, an innovative promotion and providing activities focused on Japanese style culture.

You can bake Osenbei yourself !

Japanese people love “mono-zukuri”. (making things by hand) There are a variety of Shoku-nins (craftsman) as well as craft centers or facilities where you can experience “mono-zukuri” yourself. If you join such an activity, you can sometime enjoy conversations with such craftsman directly and feel …(86 words)

OKAKI-sun

Tokyo Saitama Conversations

Koban has maps !

You can ask directions at Koban. I do ask for help when I go to unfamiliar places. Usually, each Koban has maps for neighboring area. Even if you don’t speak Japanese, they can use their maps at hand and guide you to wherever you would like to go.(49 words)

OKAKI-sun

Police

Slowly and Gently

Some Japanese people get very nervous when they are talked to in English all of a sudden with native pronunciation. Actually I am one of them. J I would be grateful if you can talk to me in English slowly and gently. That would greatly help following conversations. Japanese people usually unders…(92 words)

OKAKI-sun

Conversations

Kon-nichiwa !!

Greetings are a kind of manner as well as a way of communication to open up for each other. As you may know, Japanese hospitality is highly valued by other countries. Our hospitality always starts with greetings and ends with greetings. Through greetings, we can feel closer to each other. I think …(82 words)

OKAKI-sun

Etiquette Communication

How is the proposal?

Japanese people love tea! There are a lot of different kinds such as Sen-cha, Ma-cha and Mugi-cha. We cannot truly enjoy our meal and tea time without them. You can enjoy taste of each tea itself, but I would suggest it’s also enjoyable to study which tea go together with what kind of foods. As I …(81 words)

OKAKI-sun

Tea

“Sanma”

A variety of delicious foods are harvested during Autumn season in Japan. “Sanma” is in season during Autumn. Sanma is written as 秋刀魚 in Kanji, which is one of the season words. They can be grilled and served with grated Japanese radish to eat with ponzu sauce. They are delicious!(49 words)

OKAKI-sun

Autumn

Delicious foods

A variety of delicious foods are harvested during Autumn in Japan. You can go out to rice paddy, fields and mountains to enjoy harvesting rice, mushrooms and potato. To cook and eat such foods with your friends is an awesome way to enjoy the season.(45 words)

OKAKI-sun

Autumn

“OKAKI” and “OSENBEI”

I would recommend “OKAKI” and “OSENBEI” – both are one of the most popular snacks in Japan. OKAKI is essentially toasted cut and dried MOCHI rice cake. SENBEI is originally based on uruchimai, a non-glutinous rice – grind uruchimai, steam, dry, toast and brush with a flavoring sauce. Often both of…(109 words)

OKAKI-sun

Soy sauce Mochi (Rice cake) Rice cracker Sugar Toast Mayonnaise

“Isobe-maki”

I would recommend to wrap “mochi (rice cake)” in “nori (laver)” seaweed. It’s one of the nicest traditional cooking style. You might want to add a little bit of sugar to soy sauce, dip well-toasted cut pieces of mochi in that sauce and wrap the rice cake with nori. This is called “Isobe-maki”. Y…(68 words)

OKAKI-sun

Soy sauce Mochi (Rice cake) Sugar

“Tamago-kake Gohan”

Soy sauce is indispensable ingredient for Japanese cuisine. Although there are a lot of use in everyday life, one of the most popular use is “Tamago-kake Gohan”. We put raw egg on top of hot cooked rice, add soy sauce and mix them up well to eat. This is a favorite dish for many Japanese people.(56 words)

OKAKI-sun

Soy sauce Cuisine Japanese cuisine

OKAKI-sun's Advice List